Media companies may see pressure, however, after Knight-Ridder Inc. warned earnings will be below broker forecasts, with media peers Tribune Co. and Journal Communications posting a lackluster revenue performance during May.

Crude-oil futures fell 40 cents but held above $55 a barrel in electronic trade ahead of a meeting of OPEC on Wednesday. The dollar was slightly weaker against the Japanese yen and the euro, following PPI and retail sales data.

U.S. prices of raw materials and other producers' inputs fell 0.6% in May, the biggest monthly decline since April 2003, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Both food and energy prices fell in May. Excluding food and energy costs, the core PPI rose 0.1%. Economists were expecting the PPI to fall 0.2% and the core rate to rise 0.2%.

U.S. retail sales fell by a weaker-than-expected 0.5% in May, the Commerce Department said

Focus stocks

Best Buy Inc.
BBY, -1.72%
soared over 6% in pre-open trade after first-quarter earnings per share rose to 51 cents from 34 cents, way ahead of broker forecasts of 30 cents. Best Buy also lifted fiscal year guidance.

Lehman Brothers
LEH
said its second quarter net income rose 12% to $683 million, or $2.26 a share, compared to $609 million, or $2.01 a share a year ago. Revenue at the firm rose 12% from year ago levels, to $3.28 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected the company, on average, to earn $2.22 a share.

Boeing Co.
BA, +0.39%
on Tuesday won two orders totaling 40 planes on the second day of the Paris Air Show. See story.

Knight-Ridder Inc.
KRI, -1.02%
the second-largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., said second-quarter earnings per share should match last year's EPS before favorable adjustments. Last year it saw 10 cents a share in favorable items in recording a $1.08 EPS. Analysts had forecasted second-quarter 2005 EPS of $1.05, according to Thomson First Call. Knight Ridder blamed severance costs in Detroit, lower operating income and the lack of the favorable adjustments. In May, ad revenue rose 3.5% while operating revenue as a whole was flat.

Pier 1 Imports Inc.
PIR, -3.16%
said that it recorded a first-quarter net loss of $12.5 million, or 14 cents a share, which was slightly below analyst forecasts of a 13 cents a share loss. Last year, the company posted net income of $11.7 million, or 13 cents a share. Sales dropped to $405.7 million, from $432 million, and comparable sales dropped 12%. The company said it has been disappointed by slow customer responses and continued weak traffic in stores and that its current promotional atmosphere negatively affected sales and margins during the first quarter. It also warned that it may lose as much as 3 cents a share in the second quarter, against broker expectations of a 5 cents a share profit.

OfficeMax Inc.
OMXS30, -1.66%
said the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a formal probe into vendor accounting.

Wyndham International Inc.
WBR
agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of The Blackstone Group for $3.24 billion. The deal values Wyndham shares at $1.15 each in cash, a plus 15 percent premium to their close on Monday at 97 cents.

China's Haier is considering bidding for Maytag Corp.
MYG, -4.17%
the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the matter. Ripplewood Holdings already agreed to buy Maytag for $2.1 billion. Other private equity groups also are considering topping Ripplewood's offer for the refrigerator maker.

Broker calls

State Street Corp.
STT, -0.97%
was downgraded to neutral-weight from overweight by Prudential Equity Group, as the environment is difficult, new initiatives will take time to work and will increase risk modestly and near-term catalysts have run their course.

Argosy Gaming
AGY, +0.93%
was lowered to underweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan, with the broker saying there's limited upside after Penn National's
PENN, -0.98%
$47 a share offer. "We see little risk of a better offer at this juncture," the broker said.

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